Train death ruled suicide

By Leslie Cantu The Journal Scene

Leslie Cantu/Journal Scene --
Dorchester County Coroner Chris Nisbet and Chief Deputy Coroner Alice Durr work the scene of a fatality involving a train hitting a pedestrian Tuesday afternoon along West Doty Avenue in Summerville.
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Officials remove the remains of the victim of the train accident Tuesday. The accident occurred between S. Maple and Cypress streets, along West Doty Ave, and has been ruled a suicide by Dorchester County Coroner Chris Nisbet.

A Summerville woman committed suicide Tuesday by laying on railroad tracks between Cypress Street and Aulds Lane and waiting for a train.Joyce Lillian Brook, 54 years old, was killed around 12:30 p.m.She had been staying a few blocks away from the tracks in Brownsville, apparently with a woman who took her in “out of the goodness of her heart.” Neighbor Richard Elliott, Jr., said he often saw her around the neighborhood, reading and smoking cigarettes.He and his wife would invite her in to meals, and he gave her a jacket last week when he saw her outside in the heavy rain.She was apparently wearing the jacket when she died.Elliott said she was from Pennsylvania, and he thought she had stayed for a time at the Palmetto House.“She was a nice lady,” he said.Brook was apparently on and off the tracks throughout the morning. Summerville Police officers responded to a call about 9:40 a.m. about a woman on the tracks.They met her a block away from the tracks, spoke to her and released her, Capt. Jon Rogers said.Rogers didn't confirm whether it was the same woman.An autopsy was planned for Wednesday.Elliott said a Brownsville church planned a service for Brook this week.

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